Battery systems having a plurality of cells are used in particular as energy storage devices for the drive of electric and hybrid vehicles. In order to ensure an optimal function of the battery system, it is expedient to keep the temperature of the cells in a desired operating range. In order to prevent the operating temperature from exceeding and/or falling below this range, active or passive temperature-control systems are used. The use of a liquid temperature-control system that is guided along the battery cells with effective thermal conduction, generally in a heat sink, has proven to be particularly successful.
It is problematic, however that, for example, in the event of a collision involving a vehicle equipped in such a manner, leaks may occur and the temperature-control system may thus escape from the heat sink. The temperature-control system may then come into direct contact with the battery cells and its conductivity may trigger a short circuit.
To increase the operational reliability of battery systems, it is known to provide absorption devices, by way of which the fluid that has escaped in the battery housing may be bound.
A storage module having a number of storage cells is known from German Patent Publication No. DE 10 2010 010 844 A1, in which an absorbent layer is arranged in order to absorb and bind leaking electrolyte in the region of a valve via which an internal pressure present in a storage cell may be relieved and electrolyte may escape. The absorbent layer may include a two-ply structural film and may have a plurality of pockets or cushions delimited by one another.